Peirce's Pragmaticism

Abstract

Praised by Bertrand Russell as “one of the most original minds” and “certainly the greatest American thinker ever,” Charles Sanders Peirce invented “pragmaticism.” Vulgarized by William James and others, Peirce’s revolutionary semiotic recognizes chance, fortuitous happenings, serendipity, in understanding lawful paradigm-shifts in history. Peirce’s thought envisions a process-oriented community of inquirers engaged in confronting urgent social problems by clarifying the groundwork of meanings, beliefs, purposes, ideologies. E. San Juan’s project seeks to excavate the radical resonance of Peirce’s desire for “concrete reasonableness,” an ideal realized in the philosopher’s endeavor to fuse scientific theory and collective praxis, nature and the universal human potential still chained in alienated labor. Peirce’s hypothesis of transforming the conduct of our lives remains not only to be analyzed and interpreted further but also tested in actual practice by future generations of inquirers and activists.